A Book A Day, Keeps The Sponge Away
by Growlie
Summary: A short one-shot friendship story between SpongeBob and Squidward.


SpongeBob SquarePants A Book A Day, Keeps The Sponge Away

It was a bright sunny day in Bikini Bottom although, It wasn't very active due to it being a Saturday. So nofish was really doing anything, the same went for both and Sandy as well. As for Squidward, he was keen on enjoying some time to himself, for it was strangely quiet. Though he was sure, that it would not last for very long. And sure enough, just as Squidward was about to relax in his tub, his peaceful solitude was broken by the sounds of the neighbor's laughter. Which made his muscles tense up, especially when he heard his name being called by the yellow sponge. Highly annoyed, Squidward goes downstairs and opens his door. "What Is It SpongeBob?" He groans as he sees SpongeBob standing there with his usual happy grin on his face. "Hey Squidward!" And the yellow sponge immediately jumped right in. "It's a Beautiful Day and-"

"And I'd like to spend that time, Re. La. King!"

Squidward said, cutting SpongeBob off, who just simply continued on anyway. SpongeBob wasn't intending to annoy Squidward, but just simply invited him to join him at the park. The octopus does think it over, a trip to the park did sound pretty promising at first. Until he remembered that he would be spending that time with SpongeBob, and probably his annoying pink headache Patrick. Though it appeared that his intentions were to just spend it with Squidward, and just Squidward. Of course, it also seemed as if, SpongeBob could read his mind because he gives a slight frown. "You don't want to go?" In which, Squidward replies. "No, I don't."

Oh well, that's cool. I'll just-"

The yellow sponge seemed disappointed, for only a split second, until something caught his eye. Which was just what Squidward was expecting. "Wow! Hey what's that?!" Spongebob shouts out as he darts right into Squidward's house, though that was something else that he had saw coming as well. "Wha-? SpongeBob!" Squidward shouts out as SpongeBob darts into his house and picks a book off his stand.  
"What's This?" The cephalopod rolls his eyes, then places his tentacles on his hips. "Have you ever seen a book before?"

"I've seen every single one of your books, but I've never seen this one!"

SpongeBob replied as he read the cover of the book. "20000 Leagues Under The Sea-Cool! The Tale Of The Kraken! Neato!" Silently groaning, Squidward glanced at the clock on the wall. Which read 12:01, his relaxing time was slipping him by. "I've got to check this out."  
At this moment, Squidward gets an idea. "Say, here's an idea-why don't you-uh barrow the book and leave me-" The yellow sponge's eyes instantly lit up. [gasp]-"Really?"

"Yes!"

The octopus said, faking a smile. "Read it, read the whole entire book an-and don't miss out any details!" He said this was he's guiding SpongeBob towards the door. "After you've done that-return the book!" Squidward opens his door. "Enjoy the book, and treat my book with care, Got it!" And stepping out of Squid's house, the yellow sponge held the book close to his chest. "Don't worry Squid! Your book is in good hands!" SpongeBob said as he's walking over to his house. "Bye Squidward! Thanks for the book!"

Bye SpongeBob!

Squidward shouted, waving. "And take your time reading that book!" As soon as SpongeBob shut the door to his pineapple, Squidward slammed his own door and took a much needed breath before running up stairs to his bathroom. Then after he grabs a magazine to read, Squidward takes a warm, relaxing bath while reading. Meanwhile, SpongeBob set in his chair, in his book room, where he begins to read the book that Squidward loaned him. And once he started reading, he couldn't stop. The yellow sponges spent the entirely of his night, reading that book. Like Squidward suggested to him, SpongeBob doesn't skip even the smallest detail. He put himself into the story, Imagining himself as the hero and Squidward as the, "suppose" monster.

It was about 6:00 in the morning before SpongeBob finally finishes the book and closes it shut, he then lets out a satisfied sigh/yawn as he stretch, SpongeBob hops out of his chair and ran back to Squidward's house to return the book as the cephalopod had told him to do. Squidward was just starting his day when he hears a knock at his door. "I wonder who That could Be!" And the cephalopod spoke in a low, flat tone, as he set down his cup. Another knock sounds as he's walking towards his door. "I'm Coming!" Squidward opens the door- "Hey Squidward!" To find his neighbor standing there with the book he had loaned to him. "I'm here to re-"

"You can't be Finished Already?"

Squidward interrupted SpongeBob, throwing his arms up into the air. "Well, I couldn't put it down." Then dropping his arms back down, the cephalopod just stood there. "Did you-stay up all night? Just to-?"

"Yup! I had such an exciting time!"

SpongeBob then yawns. "And now-I'm going to take a nap-" And giving Squidward back the book, the yellow sponge returned home. "See you later Squidward!" As he watches SpongeBob slowly make his way home, Squidward just shrug his shoulders and shut the door with the book tucked under his arm. "Well, so Much for That! Now he'll be back to bother me Again!" The octopus huffed as he glanced at the book.  
"At least he Did take care of it though! Suppose I should be thankful for that, Since I didn't Tell SpongeBob that this book was Borrowed!" Squidward said, looking both front and back, before he just sighed and headed upstairs. He then set it down on the nightstand in his room. "But if there's One way to keep SpongeBob Away, this is Probably It!" Early the next day, Squidward heads back to the library to return the book that he himself had borrowed, then loaned to SpongeBob. The octopus delivers it at the front desk personally, as he was going to check another book. And as he's browsing for the desired book, he was quite surprised when he then saw a yellow sponge sitting at a table-reading. He blinked. "SpongeBob?" And raising his head, Spongebob turns his square-shape head, then smiled his innocent little smile. [softly "Oh, hi Squidward-"] The yellow sponge whispered, waving a hand at his neighbor as he approaches. [softly "What are you doing here?"]

"Well. I had so much fun with that book you loaned me, that I wanted to have another exciting adventure."

The eagered sponge whispers as he shows Squidward the book he was currently reading. "Jack And The Magic Beans!" The octopus also whispers as he read the title of the book. "Exciting Isn't it? And I've only just started." Squidward stared at SpongeBob, then at the other books that the sponge had next to him. "Did you-read those to?" His spongy neighbor nodded. "How long have you been here exactly?"

"I got here at around 7:00. I'm telling you buddy, it's really great reading these books. I invited Patrick to come but-"

SpongeBob then frowned. "He thought the library was boring and-"

"Bor-!"

Squidward raised his voice, outraged, but quickly covers his mouth as the other residents glared at him. [whispering-"Boring?!"] The octopus lowers his voice. [whispering "Libraries at not boring there are filled with Knowledge, tales of Romance and Great History-"]

[softly-Don't forget Exciting Adventures!"]

Squidward glanced at SpongeBob, then smiled. [sigh]-"I might just spend the rest of my day here!" The cephalopod's eyes then sparkled.  
"What about you Squid?" Squidward was obviously excited about this, the whole entirely of his day, SpongeBob free. His day couldn't have sounded anymore perfect, but then again, wasn't it already perfect? The more he thought of it though, the more he considered it. SpongeBob was very contant just sitting there reading, so much Squidward took one of the books that his neighbor had set on the table.  
"Well, I planned to do some reading myself." Squidward said as he set himself down beside the happy sponge, who then moves his chair to give his octopus neighbor some room. "Really? That's Grea-!" Squidward thrust his hand over his mouth. "And don't forget that you're in a library!" SpongeBob chuckled softly. "Sorry Squid, I forgot for a minute there-" Sitting nearby, a fish turns and glared at SpongeBob, although the glare he received from Squidward made him retreat to another table farther away. "Yeah, [clears throat] so how-bout this one?" Glancing at the cover, SpongeBob smiled. "Moby Dick? Yeah that's a really good one to start with Squidward." Squidward nods. "And my personal favorite." And as the hours tick by, both SpongeBob and Squidward spent the entirely of the day reading book after book and quietly sharing the books that they enjoyed. He didn't know how his day ended up so perfect, but it just happened, but he was happy for once in his life. Maybe both him and SpongeBob could do this more often. Who would've thought that a simple book, only loaned to SpongeBob to keep him away, would led to them both spending a peaceful day at a library?


End file.
